Theo's POV
Every single muscle in my body was aching, making it impossible to not wince every time I sat down.
My workout with Maddox yesterday had left me defeated, so much that when he drove me home last night I went straight to bed and passed out, only when I woke up did, I realize how much pain I was in.
It all felt so crazy now I think about everything that has happened in the last few days since joining the gym.
Even though nothing significant had changed on the outside, I felt like something was happening inside of me, something I wanted to cling onto.
Thinking back to last night, I couldn't believe Maddox drove me home, I wasn't complaining but THE Maddox Zane drove me home, a guy I watched every time he had a fight, until I became somewhat of a fan of his.
It was weird, compared to how dangerous he looked with all those tattoos, he was surprisingly a nice guy, considering the first time I met him I was scared to even talk or even look at him.
Well... I still am scared but being around him last night made me feel just a bit more relaxed around him.
Luckily for me school had finished just as fast as it started, all without any trouble from the football team as I kept my head down and just ate in the library while I worked on my code for a project, I had been working on for a year now.
During lunch I had hacked into the school Wi-Fi and downloaded the famous social media app Instagram, where I decided to peek at Maddox's page, after spending all day thinking about him and why he was being so nice to me.
His page was just as I expected, photos of him training, not a single photo was out of place, not a single selfie body shot and only a few photos with girls and some guys I think were his friends, but nothing gave away who he really was.
Everyone who knows the name Maddox Zane knows he came from nothing, his parents weren't present, and his mom died when he was young, he practically lived in the gym until he was scouted, the rest is just history.
It was impressive, he did all that without anyone's help, he raised himself and look at him now, he was doing something he loved, or I thought he loved, he had always looked at ease during our lessons.
I was almost at the gym and since it was Tuesday, I was taking a class with Rick today and learning self-defense.
Finally, I thought, until I took a moment and really thought about it, Rick, the owner Rick, a big, massive guy was teaching us self-defense.
There was simply no way I could ever get out of Rick's hold, not only was he simply pure beefy muscle but he was tall, I'd be surprised if even Maddox couldn't get out of Rick's grip, he was that large and strong.
Opening the doors to the gym, I saw some familiar people from yesterday, working out as usual, I paid them no mind and kept my head down, clutching my gym bag as I went and signed myself in, putting my name down on the piece of paper for today's lesson.
I was wearing the clothes Maddox had given me and to me shock they fit me, although the T-shirt was a little baggy... but I wasn't complaining, it was free stuff, stuff I couldn't afford on a student salary.
Until I can, I'll have to be careful not to break or rip anything, Maddox probably wants these things back.
I watched as more people came through the doors of the gym and came up to where I stood and signed their names on the paper for the defense lesson today, and I couldn't help but grow nervous as everyone looked big, buff and already lethal.
Wasn't this a beginner's lesson?
Just what have I gotten myself into?
"Theo." A deep voice called my name, making me jump and turn around, my heart beating rapidly until I see who it was.
Maddox was with Rick, both dressed in their gym gear as they made their way towards me and the other group of people.
"Hello." I said to him then looked at Rick and smiled at him.
"Glad you could make it." He said before looking at the rest of the group. "If you're here for defense follow me, I've got a special treat for you all today."
My stomach felt funny as everyone started following behind Rick, noticing that Maddox was walking next to him as I walked behind the group of people, feeling anxious about what's going to happen next.
I've never done something like this before, nobody wanted to even group with me in any sports in school, so why should today be any different?
Was I about to make a fool of myself? Dammit... why was Maddox here too?
Did he also teach with Rick?
We all followed Rick and Maddox until we got to a large room with mats all over the floor and some dummies by the side of the wall, I don't know why but it felt hard to breathe the moment people started putting their bags by the door.
"Nice to see you all show up on time for a change." Rick said, grinning as he stood in front of the group, his arms crossed over his chest as he looked at each of us in the eyes.
"We have some newcomers so let's welcome Theo and Claire." He said as my eyes go wide once I realize, he just said my name.
Suddenly everyone started clapping at me and another girl who stood beside me, only realizing once everyone turned and smiled at us.
She looked like she was my age, she was cute and petite, but there was no way a girl like her would ever pay attention to me, only guys like Maddox got with girls like her.
"We have a guest today who's going to help out in today's lesson, he doesn't need an introduction as you all should know who he is by now." Rick said as my eyes went to Maddox who rolled his eyes at rick.
"Get into pairs then find a place on the mat." Maddox instructed, making everyone scurry to find a partner.
I watched as everyone found a partner, leaving me stood by myself as the odd one left out and with nobody to group up with.
It felt humiliating, I should be used to this but... it still hurt.
It fucking sucked being left out.
Maddox's eyes met mine then called me over to him with a nod of his head. "Looks like you're stuck with me."
My stomach did a flip once I stood next to him and he put his hand on my shoulder as everyone found a place to stand on the mat, Maddox was acting like everything was normal as he looked around the room, a satisfied look on his face.
"Today we're going to learn one my favorite, what I like to call 'the bear hug' or what the ladies like to do to me on a Friday night, the rear naked chokehold." He said, making everyone in the room laugh.
As the lesson began, Maddox faced me and helped position my arms and taught me how to get him into a hold, and how to avoid breaking my hold on him, even going as far as to teaching me another method by body locking him.
It was weird touching him, but the moment he told me to wrap my legs around him I almost died from embarrassment, Maddox was a big guy, his body was fully muscle, and I was a stick compared to him, so to hold him down like this made me feel weird.
Once I got the hang of it and it is becoming easier to put my arm around his throat and knock him to the ground to wrap my legs around him to secure my hold on him, making it hard to him to break free, I felt like coming here was starting to become worth it.
Obviously, Maddox was going easy on me, I had no strength in my arms, so he could've easily broken free and kicked my ass if he really wanted to, but instead he simply taught me how to do it and the other ways to use the technique.
After a few more techniques, where Rick renamed them all to fit his humor, the lesson was finished and even though I was the one pinning Maddox down, I was starting to feel the burn in my arms and legs.
"Looking good today, Theo, you're a quick learner." Rick said as I went and picked up my bag.
I nervously smiled at him and grabbed my bottle of water from my bag. "Thank you, I learned a lot." I said truthfully as my eyes went to Maddox as he started cleaning up.
"How's your one on one with Mads, is he giving you a hard time?" Rick grinned out as I shook my head, feeling the heat rise to my cheeks as I saw Maddox from the corner of my eye turn and look at us.
"N-No he's teaching me a lot too." This was so embarrassing; he was right there.
Rick laughed out loud and then slapped me hard on the back, making it feel like he just punched me as he stated slapping me on the back, his laugh filling the entire room.
Ouch...
With that, I followed Rick and Maddox out as I was the last one to leave because of Rick laughing at me, once they stopped and talked to someone asking them a question I decided to just sneak away and go to the first floor, where the light machines were.
Being around Rick was exhausting and being around Maddox for more than ten minutes made me feel lightheaded and intimidated, especially every time he touched me or when I had to touch him.
I needed to calm down, my heartbeat was still beating out of control, so I found something to try and then sat down and read the instructions on how to use the machine.
Pec press machine...
I felt like an idiot just reading how to use it, I had never used anything like this before, or even thought about using something like this, muscle building wasn't exactly something I was interested in, but I gave it a try anyways.
Adjusting the weights to something lighter, I sat back down on the bench and then gripped the handles on either side of me and then I pulled them into my chest.
What....the fuck, so heavy... and I only put 20KG on, which didn't seem like a lot but now I'm thinking I should've just picked the lightest one, the 5k.
"Um hi..." I heard a voice making me freeze and turn to my left. "Are you alright?"
It was the girl from earlier, I think her name was Claire, she was staring at me with worry in her eyes and I didn't need to guess why.
I felt like I was dying pulling this crap, why was it so damn hard to just pull these things? But most importantly, why was this girl talking to me?
"You should try the 10k, the 20 is a little..."
I felt so lame, not only could I not lift 20k but now someone- a cute girl had seen me at my worst, I am so pathetic I just wanted to crawl into a hole and die.
Maybe I'll just go home.
"Thanks." I nervously said, getting up from the machine. "I actually was just finishing up so..."
"B-Bye!"
I didn't say anything else as I walked away, not wanting to embarrass myself further as I clenched my bag tightly in my hands and headed for the exit, knowing that there's a bus in thirty minutes, but I couldn't stay here any longer without bursting into flames.
So, goddamn lame.
"Theo wait up." I heard a deep voice call me, stopping and turning as I reached the exit door.
Maddox was jogging over to me, holding something in his hands and when he finally reached me, he looked me over with a frown on his face.
"I forgot to give you your diet plan yesterday." He said, handing me the paper as I stared down at it dumbly.
"Oh." Right... for a moment there I thought he wanted something else.
"Thanks, I'll uh... I'll stick to it." I said smiling nervously as he looked at me, his eyes going from my face to my bag.
I thought he looked like he wanted to say something more, but he didn't as he took a step back and nodded to me, his left hand rubbing the back of his neck and his eyes moving from mine.
"I'll see you Friday." Is all he said before he walked away, walking to the front desk where there stood girls, waiting for Maddox.
What was that about? Did I do something wrong? He looked mad.
I watched him for a moment longer before leaving and walking to my bus stop, each step worse than the next as my whole body felt like it was shaking and aching in pain.
Did I push myself too much? Why did this hurt so much? I felt like I was dying.
I just wanted to go home and sleep it off, and hope that tomorrow I felt better, because for some reason, I felt like I was getting sick...
Dammit, this was just my luck.